Urge... To... Kill... Rising...

[AK907]

I've gotta vent to yall real quick. This really eats my lunch!

A few months back we sold an adult male amel corn and a yearling snow corn to a guy that lives near us. He seemed like an ok guy, nice as he could be. He seemed to know a little about keeping reptiles too so we felt good about selling him the corn. Well a week ago we get a text from the guy saying he is moving to a new house and his new landlords won't allow him to keep snakes. He said he'll just give us the corn back.

When we sold him the amel corn he was an amazing example of an amel and a big boy to boot, close to 1,000g. He was one of those snakes that never gives ya any problems and will eat anything in sight. The snow was also very healthy. Anyways, we meet up with the guy. The guy says the amel ate once for him and then regurgitated it and has not eaten since. Says he has tried everything to get him to eat. The snow also never ate for him he says and died shortly after selling it to him. I asked him the usual husbandry questions. He told us he didn't really give them heat other than occasionally putting an electric heating pad (human ones) or an electric blanket under him. They also shared the same tub, which I found out was a 15qt! I refrained from going ballistic on this guy being we were in public and I hauled butt out of there.

So now we have the amel back and he is skin and bones and he absolutely reaks of nasty, dirty corn snake, like when they musk, although he has not musked. Not sure what that is about. So far he has refused to eat for us as well. If he doesn't eat for us soon we may need to assist feed him because of how badly emaciated he is. If we can at least get something in him we get a fecal done.

This stuff really bothers me because we sell quite often and this is how it always seems to end up. Just like we take in rescues and every one arrives in the same shape as this poor corn. Is there anyone who actually cares for thier animals anymore? I always feel like whenever I sell one of our animals that its a death sentence.

[purplemuffin]

keep him warm and hydrated! I wouldn't be surprised if he had nothing but dirty water too with conditions like that. Hopefully he'll feel like eating and you won't have to give him more stress..But if he's that emaciated, you really might have to help him along! Good luck, awful that this happened poor thing!

[pinkeye714]

That is damn terrible! I am so sorry you were deceived and your animals died for it.
I think if you put your corn snake in the right husbandry and wait about 5 days he might eat for you. try a small mouse =[

maybe we should have the people we sell to take pictures of their husbandry before sending. this is what rescues do as well as some mammal breeders.


once again so sorry! least you have him back..

[JLC]

I think this is a serious and heartbreaking risk everyone taken by everyone who sells animals of any type. You can mitigate the risks by limiting your client base to people you know well enough to know for certain how they care for their animals...or those willing and able to answer detailed questions not only about what they know of the animals' husbandry, but also exactly how they plan to meet those husbandry needs. Even then...stuff happens...and we just never know.

You (meaning anyone considering selling animals, and not any specific individual) have to decide whether its worth it to you if 80% of your animals get fantastic homes, 15% get adequate homes, and 5% get placed in horrible conditions. These percentages are hypothetical, by the way, and can be affected greatly by how much effort you're willing to put into placing each individual animal. Sell in wholesale lots to careless petstores, and you can end up with opposite ratios.

If the thought of even one of your animals ending up in a horrible home is too much to bear...then maybe selling animals isn't the best hobby to be in. Not to say that ANY of us would be happy to know an animal we were responsible for ended up in a bad way....but it IS a fact of life that must be dealt with.

[Daybreaker]

That's heartbreaking I'm sorry to hear about the two corns, hopefully you can get the amel back up to health.

I guess my only advice for future sales is to screen everyone who shows interest and ask them any and all questions about their knowledge of keeping the animal and how much experience they actually have with the particular species. Anyone who doesn't meet those requirments: move on to the next person. They're your animals until money exhanges hands; you have the right to determine who and who you don't get to sell to and you can be super picky about it! I definatly would be.

[Biffard]

That is a sad story, and unfortunately a huge part of the animal trade industry. It would be nice to pick and choose your customers but from a business perspective that isn't always viable. When I used to work for a local pet shop we would see stuff like this. One particular example was a water dragon that I sold to a guy and a month later he came back complaining that the lizard had died. He brought the carcass in and it was dried, decayed, and crispy. It obviously died a long time before he brought it in.

My first reaction was to give the guy a strict verbal lesson about taking care of his pets, but having other customers see that reaction wouldn't have been worth it.

Sadly this happens everyday with people who fail to take care of their pets. At least you were able to get one of the snakes back and hopefully it can make a full recovery.

Be sure to keep us posted on it's progress.

[AK907]

True, buts its easy to KNOW how to care for them, another thing to actually do it. The guy knew how to care for them, he simply didn't do it. I know the risk of putting them in a bad home is something I've gotta deal with. I'm sure a lot of yall worry about the same thing too. I know that most probably do go to adequate homes and I always try to stay in touch with customers when I can. There are a few I've dealt with, for instance a couple BP members I've had the pleasure of meeting, that I know will provide great homes.

I've got a lot of work to do with this guy. Gunna try feeding him again later tonight. Wish me luck!

[JLC]

I've got a lot of work to do with this guy. Gunna try feeding him again later tonight. Wish me luck!

He's in the best hands now! Good luck with him!!

[kitedemon]

I can't imagine your frustration you must be feeling. I wish I could think of something helpful to say but I can't. I hope that you can help the amel. I wish that there were not people whom entered into something with out the commitment and knowledge necessary to be a good keeper.

[AK907]

He's in the best hands now! Good luck with him!!

Thanks everyone. Luckily (or unfortunately?) we've been here many times before. We've taken in dozens of reptile rescues. The majority of our collection are rescues.

Love the signature, btw. My wife and been beating the Twilight saga non stop lately. Drama, Jacob without a shirt, drama, Jacob without a shirt, drama... Guess if I looked like that I wouldn't own a shirt either.